www.rockcellarmagazine.com Enjoy a Playlist of Songs from Paul McCartney Inspired by ‘Home, Family and Kindness’ BY ROCK CELLAR MAGAZINE STAFF MARCH 31, 2020 In these trying, confusing times, music can be a healer — of the mind, the spirit and our sensibilities, especially as we try to navigate the difficulties of existing amid the coronavirus pandemic. In his latest e-mail newsletter to fans, Sir Paul McCartney sent along a playlist of songs from throughout his repertoire “inspired by home, family and kindness,” precisely the type of music we need right now. Along with the playlist, Paul McCartney sent this message along as well: Hello, spring! Along with the season, this has been a month of changes for many of us around the world. As we are all spending more time at home, this month’s ‘Sticking Out My Back Pocket’ playlist is filled with songs inspired by home, family and kindness. Listen to it HERE!and we hope it brings you some comfort as we find ourselves in “times of trouble”. Looking for more listening recommendations? Paul chatted to Alan Alda on the Clear and Vivid podcast at the beginning of the month, sharing his songwriting process and a few stories from his career so far. Tune in HERE! Stream the set of tunes below, via Spotify:
www.rte.ie Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr postpones tour due to Covid-19 RTE Monday, 30 Mar 2020 Ringo: I'll be back
Beatles musician Ringo Starr has postponed his All-Starr Band tour until Spring 2021.
An official announcement from the legendary drummer and singer-songwriter reads as follows: "This is very difficult for me. In 30 years I think I've only missed two or three gigs, never mind a whole tour.
"But this is how things are for all of us now, I have to stay in just like you have to stay in, and we all know it’s the peace and loving thing we do for each other.
"So we have moved the Spring tour to 2021. My fans know I love them, and I love to play for them and I can’t wait to see you all as soon as possible. In the meantime stay safe. Peace and Love to you all."
Starr, born Richard Starkey, teamed-up last year with Paul McCartney to record a version of a song called Grow Old With Me from a lost demo recorded by John Lennon.
The song duly featured on Ringo's 20th solo album, entitled What's My Name, which was released last October.
www.ringostarr.com RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND RESCHEDULE SPRING 2020 TOUR DATES TO 2021 DUE TO COVID 19 CRISIS MAR 27 2020 (Photo credit Scott Robert Ritchie)
Friday, March 27, 2020 -- Today Ringo Starr announced that he is rescheduling his Spring 2020 All Starr Band out of an abundance concern and caution for the well being of fans, crew and staff due to the Covid 19 crisis. The 2020/2021 All Starr Band features Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Gregg Rolie, Warren Ham, Gregg Bissonette, and Hamish Stuart.
“This is very difficult for me,” said Ringo, “in 30 years I think I’ve only missed 2 or 3 gigs nevermind a whole tour. But this is how things are for all of us now, I have to stay in just like you have to stay in, and we all know it’s the peace and loving thing we do for each other. So we have moved the Spring tour to 2021. My fans know I love them, and I love to play for them and I can’t wait to see you all as soon as possible. In the meantime stay safe. Peace and Love to you all.”
The bulk of tour dates have been rescheduled for 2021, as detailed below, and fans should hold onto their tickets which will all be honored at the new dates. For any further ticketing inquiries, or if a particular show date is not listed, please contact your local venue or point of purchase.
Here are the rescheduled Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band Spring 2021 Tour Dates, alongside the original:
2021: 2020:
Casino Rama, Rama, Ontario New date TBA Previously May 29, 2020
Casino Rama, Rama, Ontario New date TBA, Previously May 30, 2020
Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ New June 1, Previously June 14, 2020
Boch Center Wang Theatre, Boston, MA New June 3 with The Avett Brothers, Previously June 10, 2020
Bank of NH Pavilion, Gilford, NH New June 5 with The Avett Brothers, Previously June 11, 2020
State Theatre, Easton PA New June 7, Previously June 6, 2020
Beacon Theater, New York, NY New June 8, Previously June 2, 2020
Beacon Theater, New York, NY New June 9, Previously June 9, 2020
Beacon Theater, New York, NY New June 11, Previously June 5, 2020
Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ New June 12, Previously June 7, 2020
Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI New June 13, Previously June 13, 2020
Modell Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, MD New June 15, Previously June 16, 2020
Modell Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, MD New June 16, Previously June 17, 2020
PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA New June 18, Previously June 20, 2020
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA New June 19, Previously June 19, 2020
Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, PA New June 20, Previously June 21, 2020
Cobb Energy Centre, Atlanta, GA New June 22, Previously June 23, 2020
Cobb Energy Centre, Atlanta, GA New June 23, Previously June 24, 2020
St Augustine Amphitheatre, St Augustine, FL New June 25, Previously June 26, 2020
Hard Rock Casino, Hollywood, FL New June 26, Previously June 27, 2020
Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, FL New June 27, Previously June 28, 2020
www.theguardian.com Abbey Road zebra crossing repainted in coronavirus lockdown Council workers take advantage of the empty streets to spruce up the crossing featured on the cover of the 1969 Beatles album Laura Snapes Fri 27 Mar 2020 Iconic ... a maintenance team repaints the crossing on 24 March. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
The iconic Abbey Road zebra crossing made famous by the 1969 Beatlesalbum of the same name has been repainted while the streets of London are empty because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A highways maintenance crew quietly repainted the normally busy zebra crossing on 24 March, the day after the prime minister ordered Britain to go on lockdown in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
A spokesperson for Westminster City Council said: “This is a very busy zebra crossing and we repainted the line markings to ensure visibility and increased safety for drivers and pedestrians. Our contractors follow government advice on limiting the spread of covid-19, including social distancing and hand washing.”
A site of national importance ... the album cover for Abbey Road. Photograph: Pictorial Press/Alamy Stock Photo
The brightened markings can be seen in action on the Abbey Road webcam.
The government designated the crossing a site of national importance in 2010 and it can be altered only with the approval of local authorities. “This London zebra crossing is no castle or cathedral but, thanks to the Beatles and a 10-minute photoshoot one August morning in 1969, it has just as strong a claim as any to be seen as part of our heritage,” John Penrose, minister for tourism and heritage said at the time.
The remaining Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Abbey Road album with a deluxe reissue last September. In January, it was announced as the biggest selling vinyl record of the 2010sin the US. It came eighth in the UK, with British Beatles fans apparently preferring Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The cover for Abbey Road was shot at 11.35am on 8 August 1969, as John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr took a break from completing I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and The End, and Paul McCartney paused work on Oh! Darling. Standing on a step ladder in the middle of the road, photographer Iain Macmillan only had time to shoot six photographs on his Hasselblad camera given the oncoming traffic. McCartney selected the fourth image as the cover shot.
Repainting the famous crossing. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images On the album’s release, fans became convinced that McCartney’s barefoot appearance related to the conspiracy theory that he had died two years earlier and been replaced by a ringer. He had in fact kicked off his sandals because it was hot.
“On Abbey Road we were wearing our ordinary clothes. I was walking barefoot because it was a hot day,” McCartney told Life magazine later that year. “Can you spread it around that I am just an ordinary person and want to live in peace?”
He parodied the theory on the cover of his 1993 live album, Paul Is Live, posing with a dog on the crossing. Pop cultural figures from the Simpsons to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Doctor Who have also re-enacted the image.
Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and Ringo Starr www.express.co.uk Tom Jones: Paul McCartney had to talk Delilah singer out of FIGHTING John Lennon TOM JONES had to be talked down from starting a fight with John Lennon by The Beatles star's bandmate Paul McCartney, newly unearthed interviews reveal. By MINNIE WRIGHT PUBLISHED: Thu, Mar 26, 2020 Tom Jones and John Lennon nearly came to blows upon their first meeting (Image: GETTY) Tom Jones rubbed shoulder with the creme de la creme of the music industry both in the UK and on the other side of the pond after his career went stratospheric in the mid-1960s. Such was the calibre of the company the Delilah hitmaker kept that he was close friends with Elvis Presley. But when it came to fellow Brit John Lennon, it started off as a very different story.
Jones first crossed paths with The Beatles on pop music show Thank Your Lucky Stars in 1965.
Both acts were appearing on the programme to perform and, curious, he decided to take a set where the audience would be later on in order to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four in action during rehearsals.
Things got off on the wrong foot, however, when Lennon appeared to mock Jones’ hit single It’s Not Unusual.
The first thing the notorious joker did was to sing a line from the song, inserting his own comical lyrics in the place of the original words.
“John Lennon was the first one out on the floor,” Jones recalled in an interview with Channel Bee. “And he looks up at me and he says [to the tune of It’s Not Unusual], ‘It’s not a unicorn it’s an elephant.’
“He said, ‘How you doing you Welsh p**f?’” the Welsh-born singer continued.
“I said, ‘Come up here you Scouse p***k, I’ll show you!’”
Thankfully, Jones’ manager Gordon Mills and Lennon’s Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney were on hand to diffuse the situation.
Tom Jones's first impression of John Lennon was the Beatle mocking his hit single (Image: GETTY)
Mills quickly chipped in to tell Jones that was merely Lennon’s sense of humour.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Jones later revealed how McCartney had stepped in as well.
“Paul McCartney said to me, ‘If John Lennon made fun of a song, it means he likes it, because he wouldn’t make a comment on it if it didn’t strike him,’” he said.
Speaking to Channel Bee, Jones claimed he and Lennon had been friends from then on, saying he understood the humour behind the comment.
Tom Jones reportedly later told Elvis Presley he had wanted to give John Lennon a 'hiding' (Image: GETTY)
However, he reportedly made a comment to his pal Presley which suggested he wasn’t quite as chummy with Lennon after the near-fight as he might have implied.
According to the Daily Mail, the King had taken a disliking to Lennon from the first moment he met him, their differing views on the Vietnam War being a particular point of contention.
On one occasion, he reportedly confided in Jones that he thought Lennon should’ve been “kicked out” of the US “long ago”.
At this point, the publication claimed, Jones shared his own grievances regarding The Beatles legend.
www.express.co.uk Paul McCartney's major TV show 'stipulation' revealed by co-star 'It’s quite frightening' PAUL MCCARTNEY, who rose to fame in British rock band The Beatles, has had a long-standing music career, but the singer has also dabbled into acting over his 50 years in the business. It has now been revealed the musician required a major "stipulation" before his television show debut. By MICHELLE MARSHALL PUBLISHED: Tue, Mar 24, 2020 The Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, 77, famously made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons. The Hey Jude singer and his late wife Linda McCartney did a voiceover in an episode, which saw Lisa stop eating meat.
But Paul's appearance on the popular animated show came with a stipulation that The Simpsons producers had to follow, according to the show's consultant David Mirkin.
Speaking in a candid interview in this week's Radio Times magazine, he revealed the show staff had to make a specific "promise" to the legendary star which they still follow today.
David explained that Paul wanted main character Lisa Simpson to remain a vegetarian on the Channel 4 programme.
He remarked: “When I asked him to do the vegetarian episode, he agreed but made me promise to keep Lisa as a vegetarian — and I was happy to comply, because I’m a vegetarian, too.
Paul McCartney's TV show 'stipulation' revealed 'It’s frightening' (Image: GETTY) Sir Paul McCartney alongside his late wife Linda McCartney (Image: GETTY)
"Every time I see him, he always checks — and he’s always surrounded by nine or ten lawyers, so it’s quite frightening!”
Fans may recall Lisa the Vegetarian episode of The Simpsons, which aired in 1995.
In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo.
Her schoolmates and family members ridicule her for her beliefs, but with the help of Apu, as well as Paul and Linda McCartney, she commits to vegetarianism.
Paul McCartney appeared in an episode of The Simpsons (Image: YOUTUBE THE SIMPSONS) Sir Paul McCartney shared a picture of his mum on Mother's Day (Image: INSTAGRAM PAUL MCCARTNEY)
The episode makes several references to Paul's musical career, and his song Maybe I'm Amazed plays during the closing credits.
David's comments comes after The Simpsons turns 30-years-old in December.
It is the longest-running American scripted prime-time series and has aired over 672 episodes.
Elsewhere, Paul posted a touching throwback tribute for Mother's Day on Instagram on Sunday.
Una publicación compartida de Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney) el
His late mother Mary inspired the rocker to write the song Let It Be and she was the main breadwinner in the family with her career as a nurse and a midwife.
In view of his 2.9 million followers, the musician posted a black and white snap alongside his brother Michael and their mum.
The two young boys wore matching braces and smart shirts for the family portrait.
"Wishing Mothers all over the world a Happy #MothersDay - Paul #PaulMcCartney," he captioned the image.
Fans flocked to comment on the post, as one person gushed: "Your mother would have been so proud."
Another person remarked: "Look what your wonderful mother produced!"
"Oh wow. Wonderful photograph Paul," a third person added.
It comes after the rockstar confided in James Corden, where he told him his mum was the inspiration for the iconic track Let It Be.
During an episode of Carpool Karaoke in Liverpool, Paul left James welling up over the emotional story.
"I had a dream in the sixties where my mum who died came to me in a dream and was reassuring me, saying, 'It's gonna be OK. Just let it be'."
www.irishtimes.com ‘There’s nothing to forgive’: Pete Best on being sacked from The Beatles The fifth member of the band talks about picking yourself up and getting on with it Róisín Ingle Sat, Mar 21, 2020 An early portrait of The Beatles. From left: Paul McCartney, Pete Best, George Harrison and John Lennon. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Drummer Pete Best is explaining, not for the first time, what it was like for him that late summer’s day in 1962 when he was sacked suddenly from The Beatles, a beat combo from Liverpool who were about to become the biggest band the world had ever seen.
Best recalls an uncomfortable-looking band manager Brian Epstein explaining that other band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison didn’t think his drumming was up to scratch, and that they were replacing Best – who’d been with them for two years through those formative, frenetic Hamburg gigging days – with Ringo Starr.
“We were rockers, we were little hardies, we could handle ourselves. But when I got back home and I told my mother what happened, behind the sanctuary of the front door, I cried like a baby,” he recalls.
Anybody over a certain age who hears the name Pete Best will be familiar with the saga of the so-called “fifth Beatle” and the life he lost out on. Rather aptly, we meet in Lost Lane, a music venue off Grafton Street, where he was due to play a gig on March 29th, now cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis. But as soon as we start talking, it’s clear that despite the events of 1962 he doesn’t feel lost, and hasn’t for a very long time. He’s 78 now, and looks back with pride not just on his part in Beatle history, but his resilience too.
'There came a period in my life when I was like, to hell with what happened yesterday'
At the height of Beatlemania, Best attempted suicide, but he has always denied it was because of depression related to being fired. “You should never ask someone who has tried to take their own life why they did it,” he said. “ I don’t know why I did it. All I know is my mother and my brother Rory found me. My mother gave me such a talking to and I vowed I would never do anything like that again. And I never will.”
How did he cope in a world that never lets anyone forget about The Beatles? “I think if I’d kept reflecting about what happened yesterday, all the time, and it was like a nightmare to me, I would have ended up bitter and twisted. But there came a period in my life when I was like, to hell with what happened yesterday it’s about today and tomorrow.”
In the end being an ex-Beatle, and carrying the weight of the criticism of his former bandmates, gave him purpose, a reason to prove himself. Over the years he had to endure public comments from various band members who critiqued his drumming and aspects of his personality in attempts to justify the sacking.
“You’re the Beatle who got kicked out because you were crap. So there’s always been a point where I’ve had to prove myself. I haven’t talked about it, people make their own impressions about what a drummer is about. So I’ll perform on stage and the audience can make their own mind up. I’m glad to say that the consensus of opinion is yeah, you’re a great drummer, Pete. I’m happy with that.”
He might not be John, Paul, George or even Ringo, but he was still a Beatle, which means it’s still a thrill just to hear him talk about his days in the band, “propping up bars across Hamburg” with “gentle, tender John” – he was closest to Lennon – or having mock fights with the band on stage at The Indra club on The Reeperbahn. Or his enduring fondness for I Saw Her Standing There, one of the first Beatles originals he ever played on drums.
Pete Best holds drumsticks after attending a press conference at Her Majesty’s Theatre to commemorate the 40th year anniversary of the only Beatles tour in Australia on June 15th, 2004 in Melbourne, Australia. Photograph: Regis Martin/Getty Images Ireland can lay claim to the former Beatle, which is also a bit fab. His grandfather Major Thomas Shaw, who was stationed in India at the time of the Raj, came from Dublin, while his biological father, a soldier who died when he was a baby, was also Irish.
His half-Irish mother Mona Best has her own place in Beatle history. After she was widowed, Mona married again and travelled to Liverpool, where she set up the Casbah club in the basement of their sprawling home, where The Beatles (as The Quarrymen and later The Silver Beetles) played their first gigs.
Even after her son Pete was sacked from the band, Mona kept in touch with the Beatles. “She was very diplomatic,” says Best. When the cover art was being done for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lennon asked Mona if he could borrow her dad’s army medals, and he wore them on the cover of the album.
The medals are one of hundreds of exhibits in the Magical Beatles Museum on Mathew Street in Liverpool, run by Best’s younger brother Roag. (Roag is central to another bit of Beatles lore. His father is Neil Aspinall, the Beatles driver and later the managing director of Apple Corps. Aspinall had an affair with Mona when he was a lodger in the house and her husband was away. It’s a very small Beatles world.)
He had not seen or spoken to him in decades, but Best still cried when he heard of the murder of his old friend John Lennon in 1980. He has never spoken to any of the Beatles since he was forced out of the band. Reparation of sorts came in 1995 when Aspinall called (“Paul McCartney claims he called me but he didn’t,” says Best) to discuss The Beatles Anthology, which was to include some tracks featuring Best’s drumming, for which he would be paid royalties.
'If I’d been in the same situation and I was another member of the band, maybe I’d have been one of the bad guys'
It’s another source of pride for Best that seven of the tracks on Anthology 1 feature his drumming: “Seven out of 60 tracks was quite a lot. And I’d like to think with that amount of tracks over a short period of time, it showed the important role I played. Whether that’s the case or not, I don’t know – you’d have to ask them.”
How much money did he get in royalties? “It wasn’t far short of a million,” he says. The money was welcome, even if, as he says, he was “well set” at that stage of his life, having made a good living from being Pete Best of the Beatles and Pete Best, musician in his own right.
He has his Beatles association to thank for another important part of his story – he’s been married to Kathy for 58 years, after first meeting her at a Beatles gig.
Lennon and Harrison are dead now, while Starr had nothing to do with the decision to replace the drummer. So there’s only one Beatle left who was directly involved in the banishing of Pete Best. Does Best forgive McCartney? “I’ve nothing to forgive him about ... they made a decision as young men which was safeguarding their future. Okay, it could have been handled better. I was the fall guy for it, I suffered, but I’m not holding them to task over it. If I’d have been in the same situation and I was another member of the band, maybe I’d have been one of the bad guys.”
“I’ve no regrets,” he continues. “I think I’m a lucky guy. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved as a person, of the examples I’ve set to people to get on with your life, to pick yourself up. I’ve been an inspiration. And I’m proud of that.”
www.express.co.uk Beatles snub: James Bond star Sean Connery's cruel comment about the Fab Four THE BEATLES were revealed to have been cruelly mocked by James Bond star Sean Connery in shocking unearthed comments. By JOSH SAUNDERS PUBLISHED: Fri, Mar 20, 2020
The Beatles were arguably one of the biggest bands to have emerged during the 20th century. The Fab Four started off from humble beginnings, performing at The Cavern Club in their home city of Liverpool before going onto international success. The beloved British band were widely heralded and are still a fan favourite to this day. It’s arguable that The Beatles transcended generations to be appreciated by all. Well, all apart from one Scottish super-sleuth, James Bond star Sean Connery – who made a scathing attack on the band. The year that the comment was made by the James Bond star – was the year The Beatles broke the US (Image: GETTY) The cutting comment came in 1964, shortly after The Beatles touched down in the US and Sean Connery was onto his third of seven James Bond films. The Liverpudlian lads were dominating the charts with ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ – with both tracks reaching number one. It wouldn’t be long until their US debut concert, which would help propel them to superstardom across the pond. But an unusual swipe was awaiting them from the 007 star. James Bond star Sean Connery made a cutting comment about The Beatles in unearthed footage (Image: GETTY) The shocking comment would be revealed during the 1964 James Bond flick ‘Goldfinger’. In the film, the fictional MI6 agent played by Sean investigates gold magnate Auric Goldfinger – who was believed to be up to no good. It was the first James Bond blockbuster film and had a budget equal to both of the preceding films – ‘Dr. No’ and ‘From Russia With Love’. During the controversial movie scene, Sean was seen sipping on Dom Perignon – from 1953 – before making a comment about it being too warm. The Beatles would go onto have two number ones that year (Image: GETTY) The actor remarks in the clip that a drink of such vintage should be served at a very low temperature before taking a dig at the boy band. Sean said: “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius). “That's just as bad as listening to The Beatles without earmuffs.” The cutting comment was speculated to have been written into the script to represent the traditional values of James Bond. The fictional character – who was known for nearly-always wearing a suit and having well-cut short and styled hair – was typically unappreciative of popular trends. Despite it being considered a cheeky jibe by the screenwriters, it wasn’t taken too well at the time – with it reported that young fans booed the line in theatres.
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